Beginner II Yiddish (Sunday)

This is a live, online course held weekly on Zoom. Enrollment will be capped at about 15 students. All course details (Zoom link, syllabus, handouts, assignments, etc.) will be posted to Canvas. Students will be granted access to the class on Canvas after registering for the class here on the YIVO website. This class will be conducted in Yiddish and English.

Instructor: Reb Noyekh (Noah Barrera)

Who should take this course?
This course is for students who have previously taken one semester of Yiddish. It is appropriate for those who completed Beginner I Yiddish in spring 2021.

What topics will this class cover?
This course starts at Unit 4 of Colloquial Yiddish. It covers elementary grammar, conversational and reading basics, with a strong emphasis on conversation.

Is knowledge of the Yiddish alphabet required?
Yes, a basic knowledge of the Yiddish alphabet is required. Students should be able to read the dialogues in the original (with occasional help from the transliteration). Students are highly encouraged to review the Yiddish alphabet before class, as the course will continue at a fast pace. The tools and videos provided here will be helpful. The dialogues in the first five chapters of the textbook, Colloquial Yiddish, are offered in both the Yiddish alphabet and in transliteration.

Course Materials:
This course will use the textbook Colloquial Yiddish, by Lily Kahn (Purchase). The audio files for the textbook are available free of charge on the publisher's website here. The instructor will provide any additional course materials digitally to students throughout the class.

Reb Noyekh is a Yiddish educator, writer, translator, and YouTube content creator. A native of California, he began learning Yiddish at UC Santa Cruz where he majored in Jewish Studies. He later studied and taught in the YIVO zumer program for several years and coordinated and taught Yiddish language classes at Der Arbeter Ring in New York. His articles and original stories have appeared in the Yiddish Daily Forverts, Afn Shvel, and elsewhere. His academic translation, together with Nathaniel Deutsch, of Abraham Rechtman's ethnographic account of the Ansky expedition, will soon be published by Indiana University Press. Reb Noyekh is also a prolific YouTube content creator; together with his partner Gustavo Emos, he has created over 100 hours of Yiddish content on YouTube.

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